


i can't be as sorry as you think i should

by anthones



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, F/F, Trans Character, Trans Female Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-09
Updated: 2014-01-09
Packaged: 2018-01-07 17:10:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1122387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anthones/pseuds/anthones
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Natalia is in need of a roommate—her obnoxious coworker suggests his friend Pepper, who has had troubles finding place. Natalia figures rooming with another woman can’t be that bad of an idea and discovers that it’s actually an excellent one.</p><p>Title from Make This Go On Forever - Snow Patrol</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Alright, thank you,” she said through gritted teeth before sliding her thumb across the screen of her phone and ending the call. It wasn’t the same as hanging up an old phone—even angrily pressing the off button on the old phone at home gave more relief of frustrations than this. She swore under her breath and almost did it again when her coworker curiously drifted over.

“What’s up, ginger?” he purred, leaning dangerously close. They’d had talks about personal space and Natalia had even used some negative reinforcement to try and push the issue, but nothing had yet stuck. “Fly in your borscht?”

“Don’t call me that,” she replied, tucking a stray lock of red hair behind one ear. What was everyone’s sudden fascination with red hair? And why did her time-tested intimidation tactics not work on this man?

She stalked away towards the shelf where she’d been rearranging the books. Some kid had decided to turn all of them around so none of the covers showed. What was it about order that made some people so uncomfortable? Stark followed her, as she knew he would.

“Come on, I told you about me and the dork from chemistry. It’s your turn to share something personal.”

When had they even agreed to that? Natalia didn’t know. It had just sort of happened over the past few months of working together. She wasn’t very fond of it, but she’d never stopped it, so it was her own fault, she supposed.

She focused on the books in front of her and spoke quietly—just because she was telling Stark didn’t mean she had to let anyone else hear.

“I’ve been looking for a roommate since the last one left town.” He hadn’t even given her a proper notice, the asshole. Disappeared with some girl—Jennifer? Jesse? She couldn’t remember. All that mattered was she had more rent than she could really afford to pay on her own. “I thought I had someone lined up, but they just called to say they found a better offer.” She was seething. How could someone just back out this late in the game? She hadn’t had him sign anything yet, but that was going to take a while anyway, considering how Clint had skipped town. There were papers to be refigured out. Was common courtesy just not a thing anymore?

“Oh, that’s rough,” Stark said and there wasn’t any snark in his voice.

 Natalia quirked an eyebrow, finally turning to look at him.

His posture turned defensive. “What? I can’t act like a decent human being every once in awhile?” He didn’t wait for the face she was in the process of making. “Yeah, yeah, okay. I get it.” Stark paused a moment, his eyes glazing over. Natalia knew that look. It usually meant some stupid thought had occurred to him and she would end up getting pestered until one of them got to leave.

“You know… I’ve got a friend whose been looking for somewhere to stay.”

Natalia had finished fixing the books and moved on to a cart of new stock that needed shelving. She nodded for him to continue and he walked beside her. His tone was curiously careful.

“She’s had some, ah, trouble with past landlords,” he continued, fidgeting. “It’d be a big help for both of you. Right?”

Natalia didn’t know what to make of Stark’s behavior. There was obviously something he was hiding about this girl, but she really needed a roommate. And honestly, how bad could rooming with another girl be?

“Alright, I’ll talk to her,” she said, stopping the cart to place a few how-to books.

Stark punched the air and she half expected a victory dance.

“Great! Two birds with one stone and all that. You’re gonna love her, I just know it. She’s sensible and tolerates me—just like you—and she’s got red hair, too, or at least reddish, I guess, it’s not as dark as yours—”

She shut him up with a glare. It was good to see at least _some_ things worked with him.

“What’s her name, Stark?”

He grinned like he had a secret. It set Natalia on edge.

“Pepper. Pepper Potts.”


	2. Chapter 2

For some reason taking on a roommate had seemed like an easy task. After all, she'd done it several times before--what should be so difficult about doing it once more? But she'd never dealt with Tony Stark before, and thus had no idea the kind of stress he could add if he saw fit.

Part of that had turned out meaning that he was going to be their translator. Natalia hadn't actually met or spoken to Pepper yet, which was unnerving, to say the least. But as odd as he was, Natalia trusted Stark, and with her current desparation for a roommate, it meant that Natalia could deal with a little mystery.

Natalia had been waiting around her apartment for about an hour and a half when they finally pulled in. She knew exactly when they got there because the living room window had a great view of the street in front of the building and she'd been glowering down at passerbys for twenty minutes.

Stark got out of the car first, a beat up old Chevy she'd seen him drive to work before. Pepper didn't have a car, then. Not surprising, given the great public transportation the city had. Natalia waited patiently for her new roommate to show herself. Stark had stretched and waited a moment and was now poking his head back in the car. Was Pepper nervous? Stark stood there for a long while before pulling his head out and standing up straight, looking triumphant. Finally, Pepper got out of the car.

She was taller than Stark, it looked like, which wasn't too surprising. He wasn't much taller than Natalia herself. And she had light red hair, just like Stark had said. Otherwise she looked fairly average--Natalia wondered what about her had made Stark hesitate.

They started to unload the back of the Chevy and Natalia sprung into action--it was rude, really, to let them do all the work. And she was curious about Pepper now.

Down the stairs and out the now propped open door, she approached them coolly. Even if she was interested in finding out about her new roommate, Natalia wasn't about to show it. Especially not in front of her coworker--otherwise she'd never hear the end of it.

"Hey," she greeted, finally drawing their attention away from the boxes. "You must be Pepper."

The taller woman nodded, a sweet smile spreading across her features. "Yeah, that's me. Natalia, right?"

"Yes," she replied, glancing at Stark with disdain. "I'm surprised he didn't tell you my name was Ginger or Natasha or something like that."

He frowned and Pepper laughed. "Well, he calls me Ginger sometimes, too, so that wouldn't have worked."

"He's pretty annoying that way, isn't he?"

Stark cleared his throat and heaved on a box. "How about we keep the comparing notes for when I'm not here, hm? Sound good?"

The girls agreed and the three of them started hauling boxes upstairs. Pepper seemed pleasant as could be--she talked pleasantly throughout the labor, making little comments like you never really know how much stuff you own until you have to move, huh? Natalia even caught herself smiling a few times. It would be fine around Pepper, when they lived together, but with Stark still there? Oh no. She was going to stay the terrifying man-eater when it came to him.

They finished getting everything upstairs fairly quickly--Pepper didn't own as much as she thought and with three people, it was easy--and then came the awkward socializing part. Although, if it were just she and Pepper, it wouldn't be so weird. Natalia had always worked better in pairs than trios.

"It's a great place," Pepper commented, looking around. There were posters on some of the walls, some of music groups that Natalia liked, but mostly they were informative ones about ballet shows that happened in town. Among them were also a few pieces of real art. Pepper seemed enamored with one piece of art in particular, the most expensive nonessential thing Natalia owned. "Wow, this is... is this you?"

"No," Natalia replied, a small smile on her face. The painting was of a fiery haired woman, limbs stretched out in a pose that Natalia had once known the name of. "A lot of people think that, though. My father bought it for me because he thought it looked like me, too. I've never danced, though." She had always wanted to, but it had never happened.

"Oh, that's sad. You seem to like it so much."

Natalia shrugged. "It's nothing."

There was a beat.

"Aaaalright then, I'll just... be going then." Stark paused. "I mean, if you're good, Pepper. I've got some stuff to do."

Pepper glanced at him, a sarcastically surprised look on her face. "You mean you're actually going to do something you need to? Gee, Tony, I'm so proud."

Stark rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I can be responsible, too." He walked toward the door, speaking over his shoulder now. "Gimme a call if you do some housewarming thing, though. I could use an excuse to drink. See ya later, gingers!"

Natalia waited until he was surely out of earshot.

"I'm sorry, I know you're friends," she said as she walked towards the door to close it, "but... I have no idea how anyone puts up with him."

She'd meant it very seriously, but couldn't help but crack a smile when Pepper laughed.

"Yeah, Tony's... a bit of an acquired taste. I've known him forever, though, so I'm pretty used to his antics."

The taller woman had a look of realization cross her features before she started to open boxes and dig through them carefully. Natalia watched her a moment. It didn't seem very efficient to start doing that in the shared space and she almost told Pepper to let her help move those to her new room, but then Pepper said "ah ha!" and pulled out a cardboard tube about the size of her forearm.

Natalia watched as she scrabbled at the top of the container, presumably for some sort of poster. She glanced around the room; Clint hadn't really been one for decorations, so she'd had freen reign. But with someone new, she supposed she should take some of hers down and make room for Pepper's things. It would add new life to the room.

Pepper was still struggling to open the tube.

"Here, let me," Natalia finally said, taking a few quick steps with her hand outstretched.

Pepper tried for another twenty seconds or so before sighing and handing it over. Natalia took the tube and carefully slid her nails under the top, popping it off. Pepper groaned.

"Oh, that's just not fair," she said. "Are you going to be doing this a lot? Because I don't think I can handle being showed up all the time."

Natalia blinked a couple of times and almost apologized before the humor registered. Wow, had it been that long since she'd had regular human contact? Clint had spent so little time there that she hardly ever saw anyone outside of work and dealing with Stark and customers wasn't exactly a casual interaction.

Pepper took the tube back from Natalia and gingerly removed the curled poster from inside. Unfurling the small poster, Pepper held it up for Natalia to see. It was a print of a similar painting to her own ballerina. They were obviously done by the same person--even as a print, the bold strokes were obvious. This dancer had broader shoulders, though, and a generally more intimidating stance. She wasn't certain it was a male dancer, though, because even with the fierce posture, they seemed soft.

"I knew the style looked familiar!" Pepper said triumphantly, walking to over to Natalia's painting. She held her print up to it, perhaps comparing them to confirm. "I've had this print for almost as long as I can remember. It's so weird to find another piece like it." She kept looking at them, a wide smile on her face.

Natalia walked up next to her, looking at them both. It was odd that they both happened to have pieces by this artist. She thought they were local, but she couldn't remember now.

"It's almost like fate," she said without thinking. Wait. What?

Pepper laughed, but it wasn't mean-spirited. "Yeah, it is."

They stayed there a moment longer. Natalia wasn't really curious about why Stark had hesitated anymore--maybe it was because Pepper was so kind. The way she was around him, it was believable that he might worry how she would treat his friend.

"Well, I should probably start unpacking," Pepper finally said, returning to her pile of boxes. "I've got a lot to figure out."

Natalia nodded, wishing she hadn't broken the spell just yet. The two hauled boxes back to Pepper's room, which Natalia had already sterilized. She wasn't going to tell Pepper about it, as she seemed to nice for that, but Clint had been... well, messy. Natalia wasn't even certain what some of the crud she'd scraped off his floor had been originally.

"Typical Stark to take off before the work's done," Natalia commented. She hadn't taken his comment about comparing notes seriously, but she wanted to talk and it was what was on her mind. Bringing the boxes up hadn't been too hard with an extra person and it shouldn't have been too hard with one less, but the hall in the apartment was just narrow enough to make it a challenge with some of Pepper's larger boxes.

"Oh, I don't know," Pepper said, "Tony's usually pretty good about helping, once you get to know him. He just doesn't like to waste his time."

"Work shouldn't be something you consider wasting your time," Natalia replied. Her tone was harsher than she had intended.

Pepper nodded. "Yeah, but he's only working because his dad wants him to. He certainly doesn't need the money."

The smaller woman looked at her oddly and Pepper quirked an eyebrow.

"What, you didn't know? Tony's dad is big in technology. Like, really big. How did you not know that?"

Natalia shrugged. She didn't pay much attention to what companies made what, so she guessed she had just missed it.

They set the last boxes down in Pepper's room, which Natalia was very proud of. Her new roommate would never know what the last one had left behind. The walls were a dark warm purple and there was some essential furniture that Clint had left behind--a bed, a dresser. The apartment was on the corner of the building, meaning you got to have two views instead of the same boring one. Natalia's own room didn't have a window at all, so she hadn't missed it much, but Clint had bragged about his view a couple of times. She understood why now--instead of seeing the grody street like the other window, this one managed to find a hole in the rows of buildings that surrounded them and showed the park. The leaves were dark reds and bright oranges and it was beautiful.

"Wow," Pepper said, going to the window. She rested her hands on the sill as she looked out. "It's... wow. I didn't think you could find a view this pretty here."

"Me either," Natalia said softly, not looking out the window.

**Author's Note:**

> this feels short and gross but i need motivation to write i want to write but i can't make myself do it help


End file.
